1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a latch for a vehicle closure member mounted on a vehicle body member for movement between closed and open positions and has particular utility for use with a vehicle hood.
2. Background Art
Vehicle body hoods are conventionally mounted by hinge assemblies on a vehicle body for movement between closed and open positions. A primary latch is conventionally utilized to secure the hood in the closed position and is releasable to release the hood for movement from the closed position to the open position. Normally the release is provided by an operator within the vehicle occupant compartment either through a cable connection or through an electric connection to a solenoid of the latch. As such, individuals such as valets who have access to the passenger compartment also have access to the engine compartment under the hood even though they do not have any authority or reason for such engine compartment access.
Also, a vehicle hood latch assembly also conventionally includes a secondary latch for holding the hood in a partially open position after it is initially released by the primary latch. Such secondary latches normally include a latch member that extends upwardly and, in order to have sufficient manual access to permit release of the secondary latch, a hood inner panel often needs to have a hole that receives the upper end of the secondary latch member in the fully closed position.
Prior art references noted during an investigation conducted in connection with the invention include U.S. Pat. No. 2,246,787 Dall; U.S. Pat. No. 2,246,794 Dall; U.S. Pat. No. 2,256,465 Brubaker; U.S. Pat. No. 3,796,075 Grogan; U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,624 Fujita; U.S. Pat. No. 4,456,289 Badiali; U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,548 Hxc3xa4berle et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,094 Peterson; U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,092 Faust; U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,591 Faust; U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,350 Faust; U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,979 Escaravage; U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,601 Lindholm et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,877 Rogers, Jr. et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,817 Kxc3x6rner et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,725,260 Eikmeier et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,122 Dingwall et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,024 Kancko; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,876 Taylor.
An object of the invention is to provide an improved latch for a vehicle closure member mounted on a vehicle body member for movement between closed and open positions.
In carrying out the above object, the vehicle body closure member latch of the invention includes a housing mounted on one of the members. A latching catch of the latch is mounted on the housing for movement between a latching position and an unlatched position. The latching catch in the latching position is operable to engage a striker mounted on the other member to secure the closure member in the closed position. Upon movement to the unlatched position, the latching catch releases the striker to permit movement of the closure member from the closed position to the open position. A latching pawl of the latch is mounted on the housing for movement between: a latching position where the latching catch is held from moving from its latching position to its unlatched position, and an unlatched position where the latching catch is free to move from its latching position to its unlatched position. A release lever of the catch is mounted on the housing by a pin and slot mounting connection for pivotal and translation movement. A pin and slot control connection of the latch operates between the latching pawl and the release lever. A first connector for the release lever is used to move the release lever for translational movement from a freewheeling position, where the pin and slot control connection prevents pivotal movement of the release lever from moving the latching pawl from its latching position to its unlatched position, to an operating position where pivotal movement of the release lever moves the latching pawl from its latching position to its unlatched position. A second connector for the release lever is used to pivotally move the release lever to move the latching pawl from its latching position to its unlatched position when the release lever is in the operating position to thereby permit movement of the latching catch to its unlatched position to release the striker and permit movement of the closure member from the closed position to the open position.
In the preferred construction of the vehicle closure latch such as when utilized with a vehicle hood, the housing of the latch is adapted to be mounted on the vehicle body member for use with a striker mounted on the closure member. A control connection of the latch is connected to the first connector to provide translational movement of the release lever between the freewheeling and operating positions. A release cable of the latch is connected to the release lever to pivotally move the release lever to move the latching pawl from its latching position to its unlatched position when the release lever is in the operating position to thereby permit movement of the latching catch to its unlatched position to release the striker and permit movement of the closure member from the closed position to the open position.
The vehicle closure member latch also preferably includes a key operated actuator that operates the control connection, and a second actuator operates the release cable from within an occupant compartment of the associated vehicle. A sensor of the latch senses whether the latching catch is in its latching position or its unlatched position and can thereby provide a signal that provides an indication of the latch condition.
In the preferred construction of the latch, the pin and slot mounting connection includes a mounting pin mounted on the housing and having a mounting axis about which the release lever is pivotally moved by the second connector. The pin and slot mounting connection also includes a mounting slot in the release lever for receiving the mounting pin. The mounting slot has a first end where the mounting pin is located when the release lever is in its freewheeling position and has a second end where the mounting pin is located when the release lever is in its operating position.
The preferred construction of the latch also has the latching pawl pivotally mounted about the mounting axis of the mounting pin. The pin and slot control connection has a control pin on the latching pawl and a control slot in the release lever for receiving the control pin. The control slot has a first arcuate slot portion that extends about the first end of the mounting slot such that the control pin moves therein when the release lever is in the freewheeling position. The control slot includes a second straight portion that extends from the first arcuate portion and in which the control pin moves when the release lever is translated by the first connector from the freewheeling position to the operating position. The control slot also has a third arcuate portion that receives the control pin to allow the latching pawl to pivot by engagement thereof by the latching catch as the closure member is closed.